Never fill the silence!
@Malcolm Turcotte wrote, "When someone's standing in front of your work deciding, the worst thing you can do is fill the silence."
This is such an important concept in sales that not only is it worth repeating, but it warrants an entire post.
I know silence is uncomfortable. Most people aren't used to it, and they feel the need to break it. It's an urge, almost a compulsion, but if you, as the salesperson, break it, 9 times out of 10, you've lost the sale. The silence has to work for you and not the prospect.
Interviewers use silence as a weapon. They ask an innocuous question that can easily be answered with a yes or a no, and then they sit in silence while the interviewee starts to sweat. The question itself isn't important; it's what the interviewee says to break the silence. If they say nothing and simply wait for the interviewer to speak, they have won that round.
If you're in sales, you have to break the compulsion to break the silence, and it takes practice. One thing that might help is to teach yourself to think in silence before you answer any question. Practice making that period of thought longer and longer.
Remember this: "He who speaks first, loses."
How long should you hold the silence? The answer is simple: Until they break it.
How long could the silence last? Most people can't hold it for more than 5 minutes.
When you ask a closing question, what should you do? You STFU, and if you don't know what that means, ask your children.
#artsales
@Michael Rocharde Great post. In teaching, we call this "wait time." It's super important. It forces someone to consider their thoughts, have time to formulate a response that is meaningful to them. I used to do this a lot when having students look at art. I'd say, "What do you see? How does this artwork make you feel?" One school principal told me I was wasting too much time and that I should just hand out cards with questions on them when the kids entered the room, but he was missing the whole point. People need time to think,"sit with it" a moment, make connections, interact on an emotional level--from a heart level, and only then tie it to a mental level. So too, in selling art, we want viewers to connect emotionally and meaningfully with the art.
@Linnie Aikens Thanks for such a thoughful comment.